Mirror

ABSTRACT

An apparatus includes a mirror. A body is adapted to couple to and support the mirror in multiple of orientations to allow the mirror to reflect light from and to multiple areas. Multiple tabs are coupled to the body and adapted to interfere with adjacent portions of a car seat, to which the body is mounted, and a rear ledge of a car to inhibit the body from moving relative to the car seat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to mirrors and in particular to mirrors mountablein a car for viewing a child in a rear-facing car seat.

Infants are often placed in rear-facing car seats when riding in a car.Indeed, many states have laws requiring infants to be in rear-facing carseats. When in one of these seats, an infant faces the back of the car.It is difficult for a parent in the front seat of the car to see theinfant's face and the infant may become bored without anything at whichto look.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In general, in one aspect, the invention features an apparatus includinga mirror. A body is adapted to couple to and support the mirror inmultiple of orientations to allow the mirror to reflect light from andto multiple areas. Multiple tabs are coupled to the body and adapted tointerfere with adjacent portions of a car seat, to which the body ismounted, and a rear ledge of a car to inhibit the body from movingrelative to the car seat.

Implementations of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing features. Each of the multiple tabs includes a plate havingtop and bottom surfaces and a rib protruding from at least one of thesurfaces. The plates have first and second ends, the first ends beingmovably coupled to the body, and the ribs are wedge-shaped, taperingfrom relatively thick ends to relatively thin ends that are closer tothe second ends of the plates than the first ends of the plates. Eachtab has multiple of ribs protruding from both of the top and bottomsurfaces. The tabs are attached proximate to a top edge of the body.

The mirror is removably mounted to the body.

The body includes a flexible fabric adapted to adjust to a contour of acar seat.

The apparatus can also include multiple flexible straps and a pair ofmating connectors each attached to a strap, at least one of the pair ofconnectors being adjustably attached along a length of the strap towhich the at least one connector is attached. The straps are adapted toform a loop around a rear car seat and to be coupled by connecting themating connectors to secure the body to the rear car seat.

In general, in another aspect, the invention features an apparatus forviewing a child in a rear-facing car seat in a car. The apparatusincludes a body adapted to be mounted to an interior portion of a car. Amirror is removably mounted to the body, the mirror being adjustable tomultiple orientations to selectively reflect light to and from multipledirections.

Implementations of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing features. The body is adapted to be mounted to a rear carseat. The body includes a flexible, washable fabric.

In general, in another aspect, the invention features an apparatus forviewing a child in a rear-facing car seat in a car. The apparatusincludes a body. A mirror is attached to the body and adjustable tomultiple orientations for reflecting light to and from multipledirections. Multiple tabs are coupled to the body and adapted tointerfere with adjacent portions of a car seat to which the body ismounted to inhibit the body from moving relative to the car seat. Theapparatus also includes multiple flexible straps. A pair of matingconnectors are each attached to a strap, at least one of the pair ofconnectors being adjustably attached along a length of the strap towhich the at least one connector is attached. The straps are adapted toform a loop around a rear car seat and to be coupled by connecting themating connectors to secure the body to the rear car seat.

Implementations of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing features. The body includes a flexible fabric. The bodyincludes a plurality of transparent pockets. The mirror is removablyattached to the body.

Embodiments of the invention may provide one or more of the followingadvantages. A mirror for viewing a child in a rear-facing car seat canbe mounted to multiple types of rear car seats. An apparatus mountableto a rear car seat for attaching a mirror can be separated from themirror and washed.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing drawings, detailed description, and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an infant-view mirror assembly.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a mirror assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a tab shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1 mounted to asedan-type rear car seat.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1 mounted to afree-standing rear car seat.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention provides an apparatus that can be easily mounted to avariety of types of car seats and that provides a mirror for viewing aninfant in a rear-facing car seat. The mirror can be adjusted todifferent orientations to help see the infant. Also, visual stimulationcan be provided for the infant in several transparent pockets on theapparatus. The visual stimulation can be changed.

As shown in FIG. 1, an infant-view mirror system 10 includes a body 12,a mirror assembly 14, two male strap assemblies 16, and two female strapassemblies 18. The mirror assembly 14 includes a mirror support 46, amirror housing 48, and a mirror 50. The mirror support 46 can be madeof, e.g., injection molded nylon and the mirror housing 48 made of,e.g., injection molded acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The malestrap assemblies 16 include an upper strap 52, an adjustable strap 54, amale connector 56, a tab 57, and rings 58 and 60. The female strapassemblies 18 include a lower strap 62 and a female connector 64. Thestraps 52, 54, and 62 are made of a flexible material, e.g., wovennylon.

The body 12 is adapted to be mounted to a rear car seat. The body 12 ismade of flexible, washable materials such as a terry cloth front panel20 attached to a back panel (not shown) made of, e.g., woven cotton ornylon, with a foam pad (not shown) enclosed by the front and backpanels. The body 12 has a substantially rectangular shape.

A storage pouch 22 is provided on the front of the body 12. The pouch 22is provided by a fabric mesh sheet 24 sewn on three edges to the frontpanel 20. A fourth edge 26 is not sewn to the front panel 20. The sheet24 can be selectively coupled to the front panel 20 by connecting matingportions (not shown) of a hook and loop fastener, one portion beingattached to the front panel 20 and the mating portion attached to theback of the sheet 24. The sheet 24 can be separated from the panel 20 bypulling on a loop 26 to separate the hook and loop fastener.

On the front of the sheet 24, three pockets 28, 30, and 32 are providedfor holding cards 34, 36, and 38 respectively. The pockets 28, 30, and32 are provided by three transparent sheets 40, 42, and 44 attached tothe sheet 24 along three sides each, with a top side of each not beingattached to the sheet 24. The cards 34, 36, and 38 can be receivedwithin the pockets 28, 30, and 32. Pictures or other graphics on thecards 34, 36, and 38 provide visual stimulation to a child viewing thesystem 10. The cards can be removed and replaced with cards havingdifferent illustrations (or family pictures, etc.).

The front panel 20 provides a hole 66 through which a the mirror support46 of the mirror assembly 14 extends. The body 12 retains the mirrorsupport 46 within the body 12 with stitches through the body 12bordering the mirror support 46.

Referring to FIG. 2, the mirror support 46 includes a base 68, and anarm 70. The base is received by and retained within the body 12. Anupper portion of the base 68 is curved. The arm 70 extends from thisupper curved portion through the hole 66 (FIG. 1) in the body 12. Thearm 70 includes a partial hemispherical end 72, providing a recess 74for receiving a ball 76 of the mirror housing 48. The recess 74 has anopening 78 that is slightly smaller than a diameter of the ball 76. Themirror support 46 is made of, e.g., nylon, which allows the end 72 toflex, allowing the opening 78 to widen to accommodate the ball 76 in therecess 74 and to help retain the ball in the recess 74. The recess 74has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the ball 76 toprovide frictional engagement between the ball 76 and the recess 74 tohelp resist movement of the mirror assembly 14.

Referring also to FIG. 1, the mirror assembly 14 is pivotally attachedto the mirror support 46 through the ball 76, allowing the mirrorhousing 48 to be moved. Because, the mirror housing 48 encloses andholds the mirror 50, the ball joint allows the orientation of the mirror50 to be adjusted. The mirror assembly 14 can be moved by tilting theassembly 14 in the ball 76 in the recess 74 left or right, front orback, or by rotating the ball 76 in the recess 74. When the orientationof the mirror assembly 14 changes, so does the orientation of the mirror50, and thus the directions from and to which the mirror reflects light.

Referring to FIG. 1, the strap assemblies 16 and 18 are adapted toattach the body 12 to at least two different styles of rear car seats, afree-standing sport-utility style (including e.g., minivans, stationwagons, and vans), and a sedan style. The male strap assemblies 16 havetwo configurations, one adapted to attach the body to a free-standingcar seat such as those often found in sport-utility vehicles, and theother adapted to attach the body to a car seat with a ledge directlybehind and near the top of the seat.

In the sedan configuration, the male strap assemblies 16 each includethe upper strap 52, and the tab 57. The upper strap 52 is attached tothe body on one end, e.g., by sewing, and loops through an opening 80 inthe tab 57 and attaches to itself by, e.g., having mating hook and loopfasteners (not shown) disposed on the strap 52 in appropriate positions.The length of the loop provided by the strap 52 can be adjusted byselectively positioning the hook and loop fasteners.

Referring also to FIG. 3, the tab 57 includes a plate 82 and several,here six (only three shown in FIG. 1), wedge-shaped ribs 84. The ribsprotrude from both a bottom surface 86 (not shown in FIG. 1) and a topsurface 88, three ribs 84 protruding from each surface. The ribs 84taper from a thick end 90 toward a thin end 92. The thick end 90 iscloser to the opening 80 in the tab 57.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the sport-utility configuration, the male strapassemblies 16 each include the upper strap 52, the adjustable strap 54,the male connector 56, and the rings 58 and 60. The upper strap 52 isattached to the ring 60 (instead of the tab 57) and can be adjusted asdescribed above. Permanently attached to the ring 60 is the adjustablestrap 54. One end of the strap 54 loops through the ring 60 and is sewnto itself. The other end of the strap 54 is free and loops through themale connector 56 and the ring 58. The ring 58 is made of, e.g., rubberto hold the strap 54 in place while permitting adjustment of the strap54 by pulling the strap through the ring 58 as desired.

The female strap assemblies 18 each have the lower straps 62 attached onone end to the body 12 and on the other to the female connector 64. Thestrap 62 is attached to the body 12, e.g., by sewing on one end and theother end is looped through an opening 82 in the female connector 64 andis attached to itself, e.g., by sewing. The female connector 64 isadapted to be releasably coupled to the male connector 56. The strapassemblies 16 and 18 are configured such that when the male assembly 16is in the sport-utility configuration, the assemblies 16 and 18 can becoupled behind a free-standing car seat with the body mounted to thefront of the seat. For example, the upper strap 52 can be approximately10.5 inches long, including a 9 inch loop, the adjustable strap 54 canbe approximately 23 inches long, and the lower strap 62 can beapproximately 13.5 inches long.

The system 10 can be assembled as follows. The sheets 24, 40, 42 and 44are sewn as shown in FIG. 1. The mirror support arm 70 is insertedthrough the hole 66 in the front panel 20. The front panel 20 is sewn tothe back panel, enclosing the foam pad and the mirror support 46. Aborder is sewn around the periphery of the base 68 of the mirror support46. The mirror 50 is enclosed by the mirror housing 48, e.g., by weldingtwo halves of the mirror housing 48 together. The ball 76 of the mirrorhousing 48 is snapped into the recess 74 of the mirror support 46. Oneend of each of the straps 52 and 62 is sewn to the body 12. Another endof each of the straps 62 is looped through the connector 84 and sewn toitself. One end of each strap 54 is looped though the ring 60 and sewnto itself and the other end is fed through the ring 58, looped throughthe connector 56, and fed back through the ring 58. For thesport-utility configuration, the straps 52 are looped through the rings60 and attached to themselves. For the sedan configuration, the straps52 are looped through the tabs 57 and connected to themselves.

In operation, the system 10 can be attached to either asport-utility-type car seat or a sedan-type car seat.

Referring to FIG. 4, to connect the system 10 to a sedan-type seat 94,the system 10 is assembled as described above with the tabs 57 connectedto the straps 52. The system 10 is positioned as desired on the seat 94.The tabs 57 are inserted between a back surface 96 of the seat 94 and aledge 98 adjacent to the seat 94 and extending backwards from the seat94. The configuration and orientation of the ribs 84 (FIGS. 1 and 3)makes insertion of the tabs 57 relatively easy, and inhibits removal ofthe tabs 57. The female connectors 64 are inserted between a back restportion 100 of the seat 94 and a bottom portion 102 of the seat 94. Theconnectors 64 also inhibit moving the system 10 from its desiredposition. Inserting the tabs 57 and connectors 64 in this way helpsretain the system 10 in the desired position.

Referring to FIG. 5, to connect the system 10 to a sport-utility-typeseat 104, the system 10 is assembled as described above with the straps54 looped through the rings 60. The body 12 is positioned as desired onthe front of the seat 104. Corresponding male connectors 56 and femaleconnectors 64 are mated adjacent the back of the seat 104, with thestraps 54 wrapping over the top of a back rest portion 106 and down theback of the seat 104, and the straps 62 extending between the back restportion 106 and a bottom portion 108 and up the back of the seat 104.

In either configuration, the mirror is adjusted to reflect light to andfrom desired directions. Referring to FIG. 1, the mirror housing 48 andmirror 50 are swiveled relative to the mirror support 46, e.g., indirections indicated by arrows 110, 112, and 114 to direct light to andreflect light from, e.g., directions indicated by arrows 116 and 118.

The mirror 50 and mirror housing 58 can be separated from the mirrorsupport 46 by pulling the ball 76 from the recess 74. The remainder ofthe system 10, including the body 12, the mirror support 46, the strapassemblies 16 and 18, can be washed.

Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for viewing a child in a rear-facingchild carrier upon a rear seat in a car, the device comprising: a mirrorpositionable for viewing the child from a front seat of the car; a bodysupporting the mirror in a plurality of orientations to allow the mirrorto reflect light from and to multiple areas, the body comprising aflexible panel drapable across a front of said rear seat; and aplurality of tabs coupled to the body and constructed and arranged tointerfere with adjacent portions of said rear seat and a rear ledge ofthe car to inhibit the body from moving relative to said rear seat, eachtab having a plate to be wedged between said rear seat and said rearledge to secure the device in position, with the flexible panelextending downward across the front surface of the rear seat.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the plates each have top and bottomsurfaces and a rib protruding from at least one of the surfaces.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 2 wherein the plates have first and second ends, thefirst ends being movably coupled to the body, and wherein the ribs arewedge-shaped, tapering from relatively thick ends to relatively thinends that are closer to the second ends of the plates than the firstends of the plates.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein each tab has aplurality of ribs protruding from both of the top and bottom surfaces.5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the plurality of tabs are attachedproximate to a top edge of the body.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe mirror is removably mounted to the body.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1further comprising: a plurality of flexible straps; and a pair of matingconnectors each attached to a strap, at least one of the pair ofconnectors being adjustably attached along a length of the strap towhich the at least one connector is attached; wherein the straps areadapted to form a loop around a rear car seat and to be coupled byconnecting the mating connectors to secure the body to the rear carseat.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the flexible panel comprises awashable fabric.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the body includes aplurality of transparent pockets.
 10. An apparatus for viewing a childin a rear-facing child carrier upon a rear car seat in a car, theapparatus comprising: a body comprising a flexible panel extendableacross a front of the rear car seat; a plurality of flexible strapsextending from the panel; a pair of mating connectors each attached to astrap, at least one of the pair of connectors being adjustably attachedalong a length of the strap to which the at least one connector isattached; wherein the straps are extendable to form a loop around therear car seat when coupled by connecting the mating connectors, tosecure the body to the rear car seat with the flexible panel extendingacross a front surface of the rear car seat; and a mirror removablymounted to the body, the mirror being adjustable to a plurality oforientations to selectively reflect light to and from multipledirections to permit viewing of the child from a front seat of the car.11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the body comprises a flexible,washable fabric.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the body includesa plurality of transparent pockets.